Laid-back attitude could be bad for superannuation
According to research from University of New South Wales (UNSW) the laid-back Aussie attitude may be a significant obstacle to putting more into your superannuation and saving for future retirement.
UNSW academic Joanne Earl says that we would be better off spending time trying to understand where our own focus is in order to be more proactive with saving for the future.
Ms Earl has identified six personality types that influence how much we save.
1. Past negative
You focus on the negative things that happened in the past – but this is actually helpful with motivating you to save more. You save because you don’t want to make the same mistakes as others, such as seeing your parents underfunded in retirement.
2. Present hedonistic
It sounds contrary to common sense, but if you enjoy all that life has to offer right now this could make you a decent saver. You might be prompted to take measures to ensure you don’t experience a decline in your assets or lifestyle after you retire – after all, you want to keep on enjoying life no matter you age!
3. Future focused
You think about what’s to come, so it goes without saying that you’re a good planner.
4. Past positive
Being optimistic about the past might be preventing you from saving enough for the future. Seeing the past in a positive light may cause you to think there’s no need to plan, because things will work out just fine in the future.
5. Fatalist
It doesn’t matter what you do, what happens will happen. While you think about the future, you don’t believe there’s anything you can do about it. You’re unlikely to save because you don’t see the good in planning or saving.
Fortunately, once you work out which personality type you are and its potential flaws you can make changes to become more aware of your need to plan and save for your future.
To help you assess your category, UNSW posted an online survey here.
“If your top score puts you in one of the last two categories, then review your quiz results and apply the characteristics of whichever scores the highest out of past negative, present hedonistic or future focus to improve your planning,” says Earl.
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